Make Your Own Printed Fabric Photo Canvas {Easy Father’s Day Gift}

Going through our photos, I have so many simple shots that can instantly take me back to the exact day they were taken and make me smile. It’s not necessarily the photo itself {as most of them are not top printable quality} it’s the feeling I get of remembering what transpired that day to make it one of the best days ever. These un-staged, spur of the moment photos that truly capture life are the ones I adore.

As Custom photo canvas’ are ever so popular right now {along with some pretty fantastic deals as well} – I thought a DIY version of some sort would be the perfect solution to display my candid sentimental shots.{And since most of my pictures are of my two favorite guys – I thought it would be perfect timing for a quick and easy Father’s Day gift too}

Open a photo you would like to work with in a photo editing or publishing program. You could use a program like photoshop, ms publisher, or even online editing services like photobucket or picasa – as long as they give the option to adjust the brightness and contrast of a photo. Change the photo to black & white {or grey-scale if available} and play with the settings until you find a look you like – taking into consideration the shade of fabric you will be using. {this may take some trial and error runs before you find what is going to work best}

Trace around a sheet of cardstock on a light colored piece of fabric and cut out. Any type lightweight fabric can be used – the lighter the better for printing photo details. Using Krylon Spray Adhesive, lightly spray a sheet of cardstock and place the fabric on top, firmly smoothing out any wrinkles. {The full tutorial written back in January about Printing Directly on Fabric Using Your Inkjet Printercan be found here}

I used Natural Osnaburg fabric, as shown in the photos, for this project. I also picked up the Krylon Regular spray adhesive instead of the Easy Tack, which I previously used, and it worked just as well.

Print the photo directly from your home printer onto the fabric side of the cardstock. Once again, a few trial and error runs may need to take place before you find the settings that work best with the materials you are usnig. {refer back to the original tutorial for printing specifics}

Once you have the fabric printed, remove the cardstock – the fabric will easily ‘peel’ right off. Brush a generous layer of decoupage medium, like Mod Podge or DecoArt Decoupage, on a blank canvas and lay the printed fabric on top – smoothing from the center out and wrapping as far down the sides as the fabric will allow. A canvas smaller than the size of the fabric {8.5 X 11} is ideal so the image completely covers the front of the canvas and the ends can wrap around the sides as much as possible.

Once the fabric is in place brash another generous coat of decoupage medium on top of the fabric and the sides. Let dry and repeat the top coat one additional time.

If you are using a larger canvas where the fabric does not cover the entire side, cut the fabric at each corner and decoupage so it lays as flat as possible.

Cut four strips of scrapbook paper long enough and wide enough to fit the sides of the canvas.

Once the fabric is adhered to the canvas and dry – brush each side with a layer of decoupage, attach the paper strips and apply another layer of decoupage on top the paper to seal.

For a finished look – extend the two longer sides around the canvas frame, completely covering the corners, and finish with a cut strip applied to connect the two ends – overlapping the paper just a bit. {like my dinosaur project stands?}

Once the decoupage dries, the paper will be well adhered fully covering the canvas frame sides.

I really like the unique texture the fabric gives to the photos. The picture above is what the fabric will look like once the decoupage dries. {I used matte Mod Podge for this project}

I love how this has turned out – simple, easy and quick to put together {you just have to wait for the decoupage to dry}. Plus the fact that I can create one whenever I stumble across a photo I like is pretty darn awesome too. I think I have enough already to create a nice sized gallery wall.

I am curious because I tried to do tiles last Christmas in a similar fashion – how do you keep the ink from smearing when you put the decopauge on? My tiles were a bust which was disappointing…but if you wanted to try it – I forget where I got the tutorial, but basically we printed onto tissue paper and then placed that ona white tile with decopauge and decopauged the top. Would have been so cute had it worked for me!

Oh I love this idea!! I like that the photo can cover the top and also travel down the sides of the canvas. I think this will be my next canvas print! I did some with photos directly onto the canvas with a glossy mod podge and they turned out as well!

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